Question

Who buys cars? A car dealer keeps records on car buyers for future marketing purposes. The table gives information on the last 4 buyers.

Part (a). Identify the individuals in this data set.

Part (b). What variables were measured? Classify each as categorical or quantitative.

Short answer

Part (a) P.smith, K. Ewint, L. Shipman, and S. Reice were the four buyers.

Part (b)

Variables include zip code, gender, distance from dealer, car model, model year, and price.

Zip code, gender, car model, and model year are categorical variables.

Quantitative variables include: Price, buyer's distance from the dealer

Step-by-step solution

Part (a) Step 1. Given information

A car dealer keeps records on car buyers for future marketing purposes. The table gives information on the last 4 buyers

Part (a) Step 2. The people in this data set

Individuals are the objects described by the data set.

In this case, the four buyers are P. Smith, K. Ewint, L Shipman, and S. Reice.

As a result:

P.smith, K. Ewint, L. Shipman, and S. Reice were the four buyers.

Part (b) Step 1. Classify each as categorical or quantitative. 

The varbles are the topics that have been researched.

In this case, the variables are all table column titles (except the Buyer's, which represent individuals, see part (a)).

Variables Gender, Zip code Buyer's proximity to the dealer, Car model, Model year, and Price.

Categorical/qualitative variables categorise individuals, whereas quantitative variables are numerical variables.

Zip code: Categorical, because there are only a limited number of zip codes, allowing us to list all of them. Furthermore, the numbers in zip codes have no meaning and should not be treated as numerical variables.

Gender: Categorical, because there are two possible categories: male (M) and female (F) (F).

Buyer's distance from dealer: Quantitative, because distances are numerical, and there are an infinite number of possible distances, so we cannot list all possible distances.

Car model: Categorical, because car models are names and do not only contain numerical values.

Model year: Categorical, because, despite the fact that the model years are numerical, we can list all possible model years for the cars, and thus each model year represents its own category.

Price: Quantitative, because prices are numerical and there are an infinite number of possible prices; therefore, we cannot list all possible prices.

As a results:

Variables include zip code, gender, distance from dealer, car model, model year, and price.

Zip code, gender, car model, and model year are categorical variables.

Quantitative variables include: Price, buyer's distance from the dealer